United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

1. In the past year, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions to advance sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ensure that no one is left behind? If yes, please briefly mention these decisions taken by your governing body in 2024 and provide the respective symbols.  

Response: No 

2. During 2024, what actions have your entities taken to improve coordination among UN system entities across policy and normative activities as well as with ECOSOC subsidiary bodies with a view to increase impact and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Please provide any relevant links.  

Response: UNOPS is a non-programmatic and non-normative agency and is therefore not engaged in policy and normative activities. 

3. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or has been in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year?  

Response: While UNOPS has not organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences or forums, it has organized events during such. Over the past 12 months, UNOPS organised and participated in events at the following intergovernmentally mandated conferences: 
 

4. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work, guidance or reference materials, or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.    
 

Response: 

1) 

2) 

3) 

5. The United Nations has defined six key transitions, or transformative entry points, that can have catalytic and multiplier effects across the SDGs and which have been guiding the UN development system work since the 2023 SDG Summit. In the past year, how has your organization contributed to  these transformative actions and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilise further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale? Please provide any relevant links. 

Response:  

On an annual basis, UNOPS manages the implementation of about 1,000 projects. The below provides examples in relation to the six key transitions. Strategic efforts to harness organisational capacity is described in response to question 6. In response to aligning with the six key transitions, UNOPS has  established a number of internal knowledge networks, called mission hubs. They are strategic hubs for the organisation to pool expertise and resources for its engagement in partnerships responding to various complex, region-specific development challenges. A number of the hubs focus on issues related to the six transition pathways. By using its unique role within the UN system, UNOPS leverages its expertise in infrastructure, procurement and project management, including financial and human resources management, to put implementation capacity behind the SDGs. Thus, the hubs act as operational and knowledge centres, enabling the organisation to engage more strategically to enable its partners through practical solutions, including for a number of the key transitions.  

1. Food Systems: UNOPS  supports food systems transformation through its capacities in infrastructure, procurement and grant management. The activities encompass climate smart agriculture (efficient irrigation), bolstering value chains (rural roads) and livelihoods (grants) Project examples include the LIFT program in Myanmar (https://www.lift-fund.org/en), modernization of family agriculture in Guatemala, green job platform in Tunisia.  For example, in Sudan, UNOPS built irrigation systems and rehabilitated rural roads, which improved agricultural productivity and market access for local farmers1. These initiatives align with the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection, which includes agrifood system transformation​2  

2. Energy access and affordability: UNOPS has been working to improve energy access and affordability in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Sierra Leone. In PNG, partnering with Australia, UNOPS has focused on delivering sustainable energy infrastructure and project management to address governance and infrastructure challenges, contributing to SDG 7 (clean energy), as well as SDGs 5, 9, and 13. 

In Sierra Leone, the Rural Renewable Energy Project (RREP), in partnership with the UK, provided off-grid solar power to 97 communities. The project benefited healthcare centres, established grids, and expanded energy access, targeting SDGs 7, 3, 4, 5, and 8.  

3. Education: The Solar Schools Project, funded by the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Saudi Fund for Development, is benefiting some 130,000 schoolchildren and 4,000 teachers across Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.  

In partnership with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department, UNOPS managed the procurement, delivery and installation of solar energy systems at 1,240 schools in seven of the province’s most underserved districts – Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Karak, Kohat, Lakki Marwat, and Tank. UNOPS also provided training to over 4,000 members of parent-teacher councils on operating and maintaining the solar energy systems as part of the $8.5 million project.  

4. Jobs and Social Protection: The Afghanistan Community Resilience and Livelihoods Project (CRLP), managed by UNOPS and supported by the World Bank, focuses on improving the lives of vulnerable families and communities in Afghanistan. Since its inception in 2022, the project has provided employment for almost 900,000 individuals through over 5,000 labour-intensive and cash-for-work programs. These initiatives have positively impacted over 9 million Afghans. The CRLP is scheduled to continue until August 2024, with goals to enhance community resilience, raise income levels, improve access to basic services, and protect local institutions. 

Primarily contributing to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1—No Poverty—the project also supports SDG 2—Zero Hunger and SDG 5—Gender Equality. By focusing on grassroots-level development, the CRLP aims to strengthen communities and provide sustainable solutions to poverty and social challenges in Afghanistan. 

5. Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution: UNOPS has been involved in climate resilience initiatives in Bangladesh and Ghana. In Bangladesh, through the National Resilience Programme, UNOPS helped transform the Local Government Engineering Department’s (LGED) approach to asset management, ensuring sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure. This initiative, supported by Sweden and the UK, focuses on meeting SDG 13 (Climate Action), especially by integrating climate measures into national policies. 

In Ghana, UNOPS worked on developing a roadmap for climate-resilient infrastructure, engaging stakeholders, and promoting the plan aligned with SDG 13 and Ghana’s development goals, with early interest from key international funders. 

6. Please provide strategies (policies, guidance, plan) and/or collective actions taken to implement the 2024 Ministerial Declaration of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the Council. Please note any challenges foreseen and provide any relevant links.   

Response:  

It is expected that a significant gap in financing for development will remain a key constraint for effective implementation for achievement of the SDGs. As a non-programmatic United Nations organisation the UNOPS role is in implementation, as opposed to development financing and upstream policy advice. It always exercises its role in partnerships with others. 

Following the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, 2023, UNOPS initiated an internal process for gradual establishment of eight “Mission hubs”. This was announced in the 2023 annual report (DP/OPS/2024/6, paragraphs 32-35).  

Pursuant to its self-financing operating model UNOPS responds in partnership with others. Thus, the missions are intended to focus efforts to enhance organisational capacity for effective engagement in strategic partnerships aimed to redouble efforts for achievement of the SDGs. 

The missions are not an expression of external programmatic intent, they are internal forums to focus UNOPS efforts to harness capacities for effective implementation responses responding to the needs of partners. They work as internal networks drawing on contributions from practitioners across the organisation. 

The hubs are mutually reinforcing. Six thematic hubs cover the UNOPS focus on practical implementation solutions responding to: (a) triple planetary crisis; (b) energy transition; (c) quality healthcare; (d) just digital transformation; (e) social protection, equality, education and jobs; and (f) food systems transformation. Two context-focused hubs cover: (a) the nexus of humanitarian, development and peace efforts; and (b) resilience and sustainability of small island developing States. 

7. What collective efforts is your entity undertaking to support countries in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the areas of Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 14 (Life below water) and Goal 17 (Partnerships), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2025? Please note any achievements, challenges and gaps and provide any relevant links.  

If your organization has been part of any initiatives or multi-stakeholder partnerships in the past year that support these goals, please copy the below table to fill out for each initiative/partnership.